HIV drug surge lowering condom use

The rollout of a drug that prevents HIV infection was followed by a reduction in condom use among gay and bisexual men in Australia, according to a study published in the journal Lancet HIV.

But so effective was the drug that HIV infection rates in the study region declined anyway, the researchers concluded.

During the rapid distribution of a drug that prevents infection — a strategy called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP — among gay and bisexual men in Australia, researchers found that unprotected sex increased even among those not on PrEP, suggesting that perceptions of risk had declined in communities where the drug was widely available.

“Safe sex is basically transformed by PrEP,” said Martin Holt, a researcher at University of New South Wales in Sydney, who led the study.

“It’s great that these guys are feeling optimistic about avoiding HIV, but it has disrupted prevention methods at a community level.”

The daily pill is highly effec- tive in combating HIV infection and is recommended for at-risk populations, such as gay men and intravenous drug users, according to the World Health Organization.

The cross-sectional survey included almost 17,000 men in Victoria and New South Wales who said they had recently had casual sex with a male partner.

From 2013 to 2017, the proportion of HIV-negative men using PrEP increased to 24 per cent from 2 per cent.

During that time, the proportion of respondents with casual partners who said they consistently used condoms dropped to 31per cent from 46 per cent.

Strikingly, unprotected sex among men who did not take PrEP increased 9 per cent.

One concern is PrEP does not protect against other sexually transmitted infections.